Food Access During Disasters and Emergencies

I read with great interest the recent article by Kinsey et al. concerning access to food during an emergency and offer the following comments and observations.¹

First, complementary to the need for food (and mentioned briefly in the authors’ article) is the perhaps even higher priority need for an adequate emergency water supply. Although the authors note that many households lack even a three-day extra supply of food, the need for water is even more acute. As recently as September 2018, more than 40% of households surveyed as part of the American Housing Survey did not have “[a]t least three gallons or 24 bottles of water for each person in the household.”² The authors’ observations about food insecurity often may extend to household water supplies as well.³ The Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies have published resources that might support community planning.⁴ Food and water needs arguably should be addressed in tandem.

Second, the authors place little emphasis on stockpiling. Some among the one third or so of households that have not set aside extra food perhaps could do so, either on their own or with community support. Faced with the reality, however, that some individuals cannot set aside extra food or water and that individuals who do so may be unable to access such supplies in an emergency, community planning efforts also could aim to increase day-to-day community food inventories and consider community stockpiling. For instance, the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas, formed after Hurricane Harvey, has recommended that the state’s department of transportation “pre-purchase food and water and stockpile these essentials for each hurricane season.”⁵ Such planning efforts, whether at the individual household or community level, could anticipate the needs of household pets and livestock.

Third, efforts to share lessons learned about meeting food and water needs during and after recent emergencies and disasters could bolster community preparedness along the lines recommended by the authors. For instance, writing about his nonprofit organization’s work supporting Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, chef Jose Andres reported success working with partners on such steps as using food trucks to distribute food to more remote areas of the island and using school kitchens as community feeding sites.⁶

Multiple strategies for ensuring emergency and disaster food access may be needed, reflecting the growing frequency and severity of disasters and, as the authors point out, the day-to-day challenges faced by many residents and local communities.⁷